Forsaken Promises
by XeroKitty
Summary: The introduction story to 'Unanswered Prayers'. Tifa has lost her body in the Lifestream and now it's up to Cloud and a small orphan with strange powers to save her, and the entire planet.
1. Unexpected Visit

_**Forsaken Promises**_

This is the story before the story; the prequel to _Unanswered Prayers_. I got so many good reviews on it, and someone actually commented on making a sequal. I think the story has pretty much ended with Caleb and Angel, and so, I thought to explain how they got there, and why Cloud and Tifa wound up together, so on and so forth. So, again, with the warning: There's a whole lot of Cloud/Tifa love. If you don't like it, back away from the fanfic now. If you didn't read _Unanswered Prayers_ and don't know what the hell I'm talking about when I mention Caleb and Angel, that's okay. This story comes first. And, if you'd be so kind, if you like this one, please read the other. Thanks.

**Disclaimer: **Again, Cloud, Tifa, and everyone and everything else relating to Final Fantasy VII are not of my own makings. I did not come up with the character concepts or story ideas, and even though I'd love to take credit for it, I did not come up with the brilliant idea of Aeris' death. Hats off to those who did, though. Sorry. Don't like her. To Aeris fans out there, don't judge my story by my outlook please. I really am a nice person, promise.

**Background: **This explains the events leading to _Unanswered Prayers_. It is just a little over half a year after the Meteor incident and Sephiroth's defeat. The survivors of the almost-apocalypse now look to Cloud and his friends for guidance through the dark times. Everyone in the group is debating on the best course of action, and are deciding that it would be best for everyone to split up and help the towns individually.

Here we go.

_**Chapter 1**_

She stopped climbing and looked down toward the city. A sharp breeze tossed her hair over her shoulders and she pulled the stray locks down with one hand, her amber eyes straining to make out the details of her hometown far below. Nibelheim was one of the cities that had been most-affected by Meteor. Not physically, for there were no scars on the mountains, no broken buildings or debris, but spiritually. Almost everyone who had grown up in this small mountain town had gone to Midgar to make better livings for themselves. And now, so many months after Sephiroth's attempt to destroy the planet with the Black Materia, there were people here who had lost husbands and sons, daughters, wives, brothers or sisters. She herself had lost her job and some of her friends. It hurt to remember, but she had to. If she forgot them, forgot what she had lost...

Another harsh wind pushed her off balance but she didn't panic. She simply pivoted her feet and braced herself against one of the rocks until it passed. A rock... That's what the people needed right now. Rocks to support them as the winds of devistation blew them about. She chuckled to herself; it was interesting what ideas came to her when she was up in the mountains. She had always been here, since she was small; a lot of things relative to her life had happened in these very peaks. And here she was again, climbing as high as she could dare, trying to clear her mind and steady her heart. It was scary, being alone again after all that time together with the others. Her friends had each decided to go their seperate ways in order to help the healing process of the people continue. Nanaki had gone back home to Cosmo Canyon and encouraged his friends and family to travel to the different continents and islands, soothing people with words and music. Cid Highwind and Cait Sith had travelled to the ruins of Midgar to gather up the survivors and start the process of rebuilding the once-great city. Vincent Valentine had helped move the stragglers of the Mideel incident to Gongaga Village, and they all started rebuilding the town to its former beauty. Yuffie Kisaragi returned to her ancient home Wutai and banded together with the five masters of the Padoga, helping other villages and cities with hunting and gathering for themselves as well as relief efforts for the less fortunate. Barrett Wallace and his daughter Marlene went to North Corel and with continuous trips and assistance from Rocket Town, began to rebuild the old mining town. And she, herself, was here in Nibelheim, trying her hardest to be everyone's rock. Children with no parents lived in her home, men and women who had lost their friends and lovers came to her with questions and tears, and she tried her hardest to make everyone smile again. That was what she missed the most: people's smiles. And Cloud Strife.

An unexpected blush rose on her cheeks, and Tifa Lockheart turned away from the mountain path, settling down on the cooling earth. Night was falling, and she would have to be home soon in order to put the three children to bed. Three was all that was left, after other relatives had come to claim them, or familes who had lost their children came to adopt another to soothe the pain in their hearts. But right now, she wanted to be alone. It was bad to cry in front of the kids, in front of anyone. That was not being strong. But she had to sometimes. It welled up inside of her on days like this; long, seemingly endless days when she felt more alone than anyone else on the planet. The single person she had in her life was gone somewhere, searching feverishly for the Promised Land and the spirit of the woman that had left them behind. Tifa wasn't jealous (perhaps a bit) nor did she hold any resentment to her best friend, who actually tried to play matchmaker to the two oblivious friends for a while. Cloud held feelings for Aeris Gainsborough, but she knew he cared for her as well. She supposed it was fine to love two people. Sometimes, it happened, and Cloud was a person who hated letting another person down. She understood, but she just wished her would come back already. It had been months now, and in his absence, the others had fallen away with out his demanding personality. People were naturally drawn to the blond, she noticed, and it was actually kind of funny, seeing as he always became uncomfortable with so much attention on him.

She stood abruptly. She had to stop thinking or else she'd be there all night. Kali had to be fed, and Michael and Gabriel had to be chased down before they complied to sleep. Tifa gave a weak laugh and started to jog down the path. As her feet slapped the ground, thoughts came and went in the same rhythm: _Don't. Cry. It'll be. Okay. It's all. Fine. Soon. Just wait._

Eventually, she made it home. Gabriel opened the door for her. Michael was already feeding the baby. Tifa smiled at them as if nothing were wrong, took Kali from the thirteen year old, and told him and the younger boy to brush their teeth and get ready for bed. As she listened to their footfalls up above her head, she cooed at the baby girl in her arms and waved the bottle in her face. The abnormally bright blue eyes glittered as she giggled happily and Tifa wondered for the hundreth time since she found Kali in a blanket on her doorstep why this beautiful child had been abandoned. Michael had come into her life similarly, only he had been standing there one night of his own accord. His father had travelled to Midgar with the promise of coming back to retrieve Michael and his mother when he got a home for them there. His father was missing, and his mother had died shortly after they had stopped Meteor. He rarely talked now, only to answer her questions as breifly as possible, or to Gabriel sometimes. Gabriel, on the other hand, loved to talk. He was eight, and his parents had entrusted him to Tifa while they travelled to the Midgar ruins to locate their older child, a daughter. Sometimes, when she went to check on them at night, she heard Gabriel whimpering a name in his sleep: Ariel. She knew he prayed every night as well. She joined him on a few occasions, not really knowing what to do or say in her head because she was never truly a religious person. But that didn't seem to matter to him, and she was happy to help in any small way she could.

Her old bedroom had been turned into a half-nursery, but she still slept in the bed by the window to be close to the baby. Michael and Gabriel had the two beds in her parents old room. They were comfortable, but every night she had thoughts of someone coming to claim them or adopt them, and as much as she knew it would be good, she was almost afraid to let it happen. The kids felt like her own children; they were her only barrier between her and loneliness. But she knew, if it came down to it, she would let them go anyway.

Kali was tucked in for the night. Michael and Gabriel were in their room, climbing into their beds. Tifa finally kicked off her shoes and threw herself onto the small bed, staring blankly up at the cieling. Her breathing was slow, deep, and even. She was hoping sleep would come quickly so this day would be over with. This long, painfully long day. She closed her eyes.

_KNOCK! KNOCK!_

She quickly sat up: "Who in the world...?"

_KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!_

"Tifa?" a small voice called from across the hall.

"It's alright, Gabe. I'll go see who it is. Go back to sleep," she called back softly, trying not to wake the baby. As she hurried down the stairs, the person knocked again: _KNOCK! KNOCK! _"Yes!" She reached the first floor and lunged for the doornob before they knocked again. "Yes, who is it?"

A man stood on the steps, his face down and hidden from the light of the porch lamp. "Tifa?" he asked in a raspy, hushed voice. Her heart gave a sudden shiver, but she ignored it and squinted her eyes, trying to peer at him through the darkness vieling his face.

"Who are you?" she repeated.

A hand reached up, a familiar hand, and pulled back a hood that had hidden the man's face from her eyes. His hair gleamed like a shock of golden yellow against the deep night behind him. His eyes rose to hers and flickered when their stares met. The piercing blue was unmistakable.

"Please, Tifa, hide me," Cloud Strife whispered in that strained, scratchy voice. "They're right behind me."

"Who...?" she tried, but she was already pulling him inside, her gaze flicking up beyond his shoulder to look. There was no one out there. She shut the door and turned to him but he was faster. Her mouth opened to ask him what exactly was going on when he took her hand in his and pulled her away from the door, his other hand shooting to the locks and she heard them snap into place. He tugged her across the room to the wall opposite the door, pressing her and himself flat against it, directly before the picture window.

"They're there," he said huskily. "And they'll come looking for me."

"Cloud..." Tifa wasn't sure if this was a dream or not. It was surreal enough to _be_ a dream, but the way his hand felt against hers couldn't be imagined. He turned to her in the dark and she found herself falling into the harsh blue mako gaze like she had a million times before. And she was more lost than ever. Her mouth opened and closed as she tried to explain this to him, but he had already focused back on the window and she still couldn't vocalize what she was thinking and feeling.

"The Xero Faction is looking for me," he said into the darkness. Tifa gave up trying to understand what was going on, and soon, Cloud released her and moved into the living room. She heard him sit down in the armchair by the smaller window and let out a tired sigh. Hesitantly, she stepped into the room after him.

"Are you really...?" she stammered. "Is it... you? Are you really... Cloud...?"

"Of course it's me," she could see him waving off her words in her mind's eye.

"But... I don't understand... What's going on? Who are you trying to avoid? Who is 'they'? This Xero Faction?"

He sighed again. "Are you awake, or would you prefer I start this story in the morning?"

"I'm... awake now," she sat on the edge of the longer couch, from what she knew, across from him.

"Then I'll tell you," he said quietly, his voice still keeping the dry rasp. Tifa leaned forward to listen.


	2. Cloud's Explanation

_**Chapter 2**_

_He had been searching forever. Cloud Strife knew he was still out here on borrowed time, emphasized by the fact that he was unwrapping his last ration. Outside his shelter, Aurelia--his golden chocobo--_warked_ uneasily. The food wasn't even to his mouth, for pity's sake. He got up and looked through the small window cut out of the slab of white stone but all he could see was the night sky. Rolling his eyes, Cloud ducked out of the abandoned defense post and stepped out onto the ledge. The city of the Cetra lay out before him, its paved, winding streets looping out and into the scatter of low-level buildings that sat dark and dormant. As always, a wave of sorrow fell over him for the unfortunate end of these people, the Ancients, guardians of the planet once a long time ago. And his friend, Aeris._

_Aurelia trotted up to him and made another distressed _warking_ sound in her throat, clamping her beak on his cloak and tugging slightly. He turned to her, one hand coming up to her broad face and stroking the silken yellow feathers._

_"What's got you so nervous?" he glanced around. The area was dark and quiet, nothing out of the ordinary. Far beyond the city, protruding just above the horizon, the lip of the Northern Crater stood out in the darkness like a sharp reminder, and Cloud mentally winced. Too many things had happened in the past year. Too many hurtful things: death, abandonment, betrayal; all at the hands of one man Cloud had trusted. His eyes narrowed as he recalled the face of that man, and all he could remember was that twisted expression of anger and not a little hint of insanity._

_He didn't know that he had been clenching his fists until Aurelia nudged him hard with the bridge of her beak, snapping him out of it. He shook his head and lifted a shaking hand to his hair, combing his fingers through it roughly. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath and slowly allowed his mind to clear up. _All right, Cloud, think. Aurelia's spooked, so there must be something out there. You're on your last ration, _he looked down at the wrapped parcel in his fist, now squashed to ruin. _No rations, _he corrected himself, _so that must be my incentive to move out. But where else can I go? I've looked for the Promised Land everywhere, and I still haven't found it, or her... _He licked his lips. _I can't give up my search. I swore I'd see her again. I've been everywhere: Corel, Cosmo Canyon, Bone Village and the Sleeping Forest, city ruins, even the crater where the Temple of the Ancients was! _His blue mako eyes slowly opened and he gazed up to the horizon again. And again, the silhouette of the Northern Crater held his eyes and he suddenly let out a harsh shiver. There was one place he hadn't looked yet..._

Tifa nearly jumped out of her skin as Kali screamed from the second floor. She glanced over apologetically at Cloud, who was looking up at the cieling.

"I take care of oprhans now," she confessed timidly and rose. Cloud stood too and followed her up the stairs as she entered her bedroom and crossed over to the crib near its center. Reaching inside, she lifted out the small baby girl and cradled her close to her chest, looking up bashfully at the man beside her. He looked down into the toddler's face and gently traced a shaking finger along her wrinkled brow. Almost instantly, the girl's wails quieted. Tifa looked at him in shock.

"Is she the only one you're looking after?" he asked softly.

She shook her head: "Two boys as well. They're in the other room." They sat down together on the foot of her bed. "Now, back to your story. You went to the Northern Crater?"

"Yeah," he answered bitterly. "But I shouldn't have."

_He patted the chocobo's neck and slid from the saddle, his boots crunching on the small rocks and debris in the dirt. Aurelia _warked_ softly and watched Cloud descend into the gaping mouth of the Northern Crater. He pivoted his ankles and allowed himself to slide down into the darkness of the crater, one hand skimming the ground behind him for balance. Leaning down so he moved faster, Cloud hit an overhang and leapt out; spreading his arms and legs wide, he let himself drop into the abyss. His mako-enhanced eyesight picked out the rocks far below and he focused on them, tilting his body ever-so slightly in the free-fall, adjusting his position in the air, calculating the landing in his head. The weightless feeling gripped his stomach as he tumbled head-over-heels in the air and abruptly landed on his feet. His knees absorbed the shock and he ended up in a crouch, both sets of fingers splayed on the ground between his legs to help him keep his balance. He looked around quickly. The layout of the crater had changed dramatically after the erruption of Holy from its depths. The twisting, looping tunnels that had served as hours of frustration for him and his friends had been smoothed into solid, jagged rock ground. The one formation that did seem out of place, however, was a huge, low-humped boulder that protruded from the dirt. Its smooth surface was marred by a single crack running nearly halfway up its side. Knowing that all things suspicious should be investigated (no matter the cost later), he carefully stuck his fingers into the crack and slid them down. The fingers passed through to the second knuckles, and his fingertips were greeted with a wisp of cold air. Much colder than the air around him now. His brow knitted together as he tried to force his entire hand into the opening and it caught halfway. Pausing only for a moment, he unclipped the dark metal Buster Sword from the mount on his back and turned the weapon down, sliding the thin blade into the jagged mark. It slid in easily and he allowed it to run all the way down to the hilt in order to check for resistance. There was none. Pulling it back up until a little less than half was visible, he planted one foot on the boulder and the other on the ground and yanked. Surprisingly, the rock gave away quite easily and with three more tugs, he had created an opening large enough for him to squeeze through. Re-sheathing his sword, Cloud placed both hands on either side of the hole and hoisted himself in. Slowly lowering himself, he felt his body being cucooned with the same cold air his fingers were. He shifted the position of his hands and now he was hanging from the rift--from the cieling of an underground chamber. The cold blue walls glimmered with a deep mako sheen, and a pulsating waterfall of the planet lifeforce spilled down far below his hanging feet. A platform lay below him, a passageway leading backward, but most likely blocked from the incidents half a year before: this was the dark chamber he and his friends had traversed through before the platform that hung over the mako spring. The last area where the team had gathered, and split up again, and three of them had continued on to confront Sephiroth while the others stayed behind to halt the enemies closing in on them from behind. The point of no return: that is what lay ahead in the next room. He could already see the opening he had to slip through in order to enter the circular area. He briefly closed his eyes, waiting for his breathing to come under control before he could continue. But first, he had to get down. Licking his lips, Cloud dropped silently into the blue-green chamber, landing again on his feet. He straightened and glanced around once before bounding from one platform to the next, crossing the ocean of mako. A sliver of orange-yellow light poured out from the next room over and Cloud hurried over to it, finding the dismal emptiness of this area slightly disturbing. He leaned against the wall and tilted his head, his blond bangs crossing over his field of vision as he peered cautiously into the opening._

"It was them..." he whispered, and Tifa saw his hands were tightly laced together to prevent them from shaking visibly. Kali lay asleep in her arms again, but she was afraid to move. Afraid she would wake the baby up, and afraid to leave Cloud in this condition. Whatever he had seen had scared him. Badly.

"What was it, Cloud?" she asked him in a soft voice. "Tell me, if you can."

He licked his lips and glanced over to her, his eyes wide and shining eerily in the darkness of her bedroom. "The Xero Faction."

"I don't understand," she shook her head apologetically. "Who are the Xero Faction?"

"I heard someone talking," he said, his blue eyes turning to the empty room, "but I couldn't see who it was. I did recognize the voice, though it took me longer than it should have. They're soldiers. Soldiers under some type of hypnosis or magic; they derive their power directly from the Lifestream. Only the same power condensed in a different form can hurt them."

"Materia?" Tifa clarified. He nodded. "Then who was commanding them, Cloud? Who's voice did you hear?"

His eyes slitted halfway closed and she saw tears glittering against his lashes. With her free hand she wiped them cautiously away. He leaned his face into her touch and suddenly his arms were around her waist, holding her tight.

He sobbed loudly against her side: "It was Aeris! Aeris was telling them to hunt each and every last human to the death! As revenge!"

"Revenge...?" Tifa sat still, her eyes wide. "Aeris...?" She looked down at Cloud, who was crying freely into her side. She gasped softly as his words sunk in. _Xero Faction... Aeris...but why! I don't understand! _She stared down at her friend, silently begging that none of this was true, but knowing that Cloud would never, ever fabricate something this deranged in his right mind. And even if he had somehow become insane in his absence, he wouldn't have a reaction like this. Not this severe.

"It was Aeris..." he whimpered, clinging to her like a scared child. "What... what did I do wrong? Is it because I couldn't find her in time...? Tifa..."

"Shh," she stroked a trembling hand through his hair. As much as this scared and confused her, she couldn't let him know that now. She had to be his rock. "It's alright, Cloud. We'll figure it out. There has to be an explanation for it--a logical one--I'm sure of it. We just have to find out together, okay? Shh, calm down. Calm down." Her burning eyes rose to the doorway when she heard a soft flutter. Michael stood there, watching them solemnly. Quietly, she motioned him over and he complied, crossing the room in his bare feet, looking as surreal as a ghost. He knew what she had wanted, and took the sleeping Kali from her arm, returning her to the crib and exiting the room. Before he left, however, he turned and gave Tifa a long look. She smiled weakly at him. Seeming almost unconvinced, he left her presence and her eyes fell again to Cloud. His sobs had quieted and now he unconsciously curled up against her, his arms keeping her tight to him. She shifted as little as she could manage without disturbing him and gently ran her fingers through his blond locks again. "We'll find out what's going on," she promised softly. "Together."


	3. Gabriel Leaves

_**Chapter 3**_

She had stayed up all night, the words of his haunting tale echoing in her head through the long stretch of darkness. As morning descended on the mountain valley town, it found her sitting up in the exact same position, a hand moving slightly through Cloud's blond hair as he snored softly. The baby, thankfully, had not awoken for the remainder of the night, but now Tifa was concerned about what to tell Gabriel and Michael about this situation. Cloud obviously had a problem, whether it be mental or physical, and she was determined to see him through this as she had done before in Mideel and the Lifestream.

_They gain their power directly from the Lifestream,_ she repeated to herself, trying to let a solution to the problem magically come to her. She hated having no clue of what was really going on; it frustrated her. A light shuffle moved her from her thoughts and her eyes lifted to the doorway. Michael stood there silently once more in the early dawn light, his complexion looking paler than usual. She tried to give him an encouraging smile and motioned him into the room with her free hand. He passed wordlessly through the doorway and came up to her bedside, standing off to one side as he looked down at the sleeping man in his caretaker's lap with a blank face. Tifa knew he never let anything mar his impassive mask, that it was his self-made protection from the hurt of losing the only family he had, and as much as she wanted to break him out of it--no child should be that way--she had the feeling that Michael would continue to keep to himself despite her best efforts until the time he chose. She had finally figured it was best to let him have his solitude, being just right there in case he finally decided to turn to her for help. He was a strange boy.

"It was doomed from the begining, wasn't it?"

"What was that, Michael?" Tifa blinked, not exactly sure if she had heard him correctly.

"He should be named Caleb."

"Michael, what are you--?"

"They're coming for him."

The last sentence made goosebumps rise on her arms and a chill rip down her spine. She stared at him incredulously, wondering if he had heard their conversation last night and was mocking her now. Somehow, though, she didn't think that was the answer. Light footfalls alerted them of another presence and both pairs of eyes returned to the doorway where Gabriel now stood, rubbing one sleep-filled eye with a small fist.

"I heard noise last night, Tifa," he yawned. "I wanted to come out but Michael said he would check on it but when he came back he didn't say anything and then I thought of checking but I figured if he wasn't worried then there was nothing wrong and it was okay to sleep and..."

"Yes, Gabriel, everything's fine," she assured him with a fake smile. She briefly felt Michael's eyes, almost like a silken touch on her skin. But she favored Gabriel's wide-eyed expression at their new resident, however feeling a twinge of guilt.

"Who's that? Is he Kali's father? Or maybe her brother? Or--" he turned to the slightly older boy, "--is he your daddy? Your older brother? Do you know him?" Michael shook his head. Tifa felt the eyes leave her and couldn't help but feel a little relieved.

"He's an old, dear friend of mine," she smiled, a little more sincerely this time, looking down at the man's sleeping face in her lap.

"Is he the one you told us about? That you were in love with him but he liked someone else?" Gabriel asked. Tifa's smile turned into a rather sick grimmace. The mention of 'someone else' (Aeris) made her stomach suddenly turn unpleasantly, as it never had before. She opened her mouth to answer when, surprisingly, Michael cut her off.

"Let's go get dressed, Gabe," he said curtly to the other boy and walked silently out of the room. His questions all but forgotten, Gabriel whirled and hurried out after his friend with a breathless "wait up!" that was not answered in words. She was left with Cloud and Kali again in the quiet room, staring after the two boys with a mixture of confusion and helplessness that suddenly reached up and overtook her. She felt small, helpless with all these obstacles suddenly laid out in front of her. By now she was absolutely convinced something very werid was going on here. She just couldn't, for the life of her, figure out what it was... besides the news that Aeris Gainsborough had somehow turned into a deranged madwoman that controlled an army of mako soldiers. And as if that were a sign saying 'things couldn't get much worse' there was a knock at the door.

_Knock knock! _"Miss Lockheart?" _Knock knock knock! _"Hello?" _Knock!_ "Is anyone home...?"

Tifa managed to slide herself out from beneath Cloud but as soon as she stood she found that both of her legs were dead asleep, all the way up to her hips. Rolling her eyes and huffing in agravation, she stumbled and dragged herself into the landing and to the edge of the stairs, turning her head once to call over her shoulder for Michael to keep an eye on the baby while she was downstairs. Then, planting one hand on each banister, she hoisted herself down the steps as the knocking continued.

_Knock knock knock! _"Miss Lockheart?" _Knock knock knock! _

"Yes, I'm coming!" she panted as she reached the first floor. _Knock knock knock! _"Coming!" she repeated, a little louder. By the time she wobbled over to the door (looking quite ridiculous indeed) the knocking had ceased. Rolling her eyes again, she wrenched the door open and leaned heavily against the brass knob, looking out past the porch to see who had called on her. She spotted them at the edge of her walkway: "Miss? How may I help you?" They stopped and turned back to face her, looking pale and almost uncertian. She managed a fairly polite smile and gestured her to come back and join her inside. She did, getting paler as she drew closer until she looked positively as white as a sheet when she stepped into the foyer. Tifa limped back and the mystery woman looked blankly at her actions. _Not afraid to stare, are we? _she thought to herself but again mustered a smile and gestured her into the sitting room to the right of the stairs. "Must have slept funny last night, can't feel anything but pins and needles in my legs. Now," she waited for her impatiently to sit down and when she did Tifa plopped unceremoniously into the chair across from her. She hadn't been kidding, the pins and needles were killing her right now. "What can I help you with?"

"I'm here to collect my brother," she said and Tifa blinked, the pins and needles all but forgotten.

"Your brother?" she repeated.

"Some of the local townspeople told me you work with lost or abandoned children."

"Y-yes..." she stuttered. Michael's words suddenly came back to her: _They're coming for him. _Did he mean...?

"His name is Gabriel, he's eight," the woman pressed, looking tired. "I'm his sister, Ariel."

"Oh!" Tifa remembered the name from many late night prayer sessions with the boy. "Well, then, if you'll excuse me for just a moment, I'll ge fetch him." She stood and walked around to the stairs, limping slightly but showing no other signs that her legs were still half asleep. Leaving the woman behind, Tifa felt the slightest of shivers crawl slowly up her spine but she shook it off quickly, dismissing it as nerves. She should be happy Gabriel's family had come to get him, not uneasy, or sad that he was leaving. She always had difficulty letting the children go, no matter how long they had been in her care: Gabriel had been the last to join the house; Michael was already here and she had just recently found Kali, and a little girl that had been found wandering outside the city limits had just been adopted by the new General Store owner. Mendi. As Tifa reached the second floor, Gabriel and Michael were crossing to her and Kali's room. They stopped to look at her flushed face and distracted gaze.

"Tifa...?" Gabriel called tentatively. She shook herself out of it and knelt in front of him, placing her hands on his shoulders.

"I have some good news for you, Gabriel."

"You made pancakes for breakfast!" he blurted out and she suddenly felt the strong urge to cry. Gripping his shoulders a little tighter, she looked into his wide dark green eyes and licked her lips quickly.

"No, honey," she gave him a quavering smile. "Your sister's here."

"Sis..." his eyes widened. "ARIEL!" And without another second he darted past her and down the stairs. She could hear his footsteps thudding, skidding to a halt, his surpressed half-shriek, half-sob, and then "SIS!"

Tifa lowered herself onto the topmost step, pressing the heels of her hands briefly against her stinging eyes. Michael stood quietly behind her, his eyes leaving their touch on her back. She looked back at him and presented him with the same shaking grin.

"You were right," she told him. "They did come for him. But, how did you know?"

"Are his parents down there?"

"No, just his sister."

Michael stayed quiet. Finally, after what seemed like hours but was really only seconds, he left her side to go check on Kali as she had asked. Taking a deep breath, Tifa stood (the pins and needles completely gone now) and descended the stiars at a steady pace, trying to get her emotions in check before she faced the pair of them. Turning into the living room, she saw the two of them standing, Gabriel staring in open-mouthed shock at his sister who gripped his hand tightly, looking blank, despite the sibling's reunion.

"Thank you," the woman said.

"You're quite welcome. He was no trouble at all," Tifa answered her through a lump in her throat. The two of them headed for the door and Tifa moved ahead of them, pulling it open. "You and your sister can come back and visit me anytime, alright Gabriel?"

The boy did not even glance at her as she spoke, his eyes still transfixed upon his sister's face. She supposed from the shock of seeing her alive after all this time. Watching them go until they reached the old well in the center of town, Tifa shut the door behind her and slumped against it, sighing dejectedly. One arm came over her eyes as she closed them, her head leaning back against the oak door.

"He didn't even say goodbye..." she whispered.


	4. They're Coming For Him

_**Chapter 4**_

She awoke at dusk, the last rays of orange sun glaring into her eyes and making her wince. Tifa sat up and looked around the empty bedroom as the sheets fell into her lap. Kali was not in her crib, and she had been tucked into her bed. Pulling her feet out and swinging them over the side of the bed, she leaned down and grabbed her boots that she had kicked off the night before. She slipped them back on and then stood, stretching slowly. The sounds of voices from downstairs drew her attention and she moved out of the room, standing at the base of the stairs.

"Do you want another plate?"

"No, thank you."

It was Cloud and Michael. She also heard the baby gurgling and squealing. No sound of Gariel. Tifa shook her head and closed her eyes against fresh tears that threatened to spring up. She told herself she should be happy his family had come for him, but she just couldn't shake the feeling...

"You're awfully quiet for a kid."

"I'm not a kid."

"Oh, really? Then what are you?"

She heard more of the conversation as she descended the staircase. When she reached the bottom, she also heard the clinking of plates and silverware.

"What's the matter?"

"Nothing."

"You don't look as if nothing's the matter. Are you upset that your friend left?"

She turned right, into the kitchen/dining room area. Cloud was getting up from the table with a plate in his hands. Kali was in her highchair, wearing half of what appeared to be dinner. Michael was idly picking at the food on the plate in front of them. When she entered, Cloud turned from the sink and gave her a tight-lipped smile.

"Hey, Tifa."

Kali looked up from her mess: "Gah!"

Michael kept his eyes to the moving fork.

"What time is it?" she asked, slipping into the chair at the far end of the table.

"Almost eight," the blond answered, bringing around a full plate of mashed potatoes, corn, and steak. He put it in front of her along with a fork and a knife. "What would you like to drink?"

"Cloud..." she sighed. "This is my house. _I'm_ supposed to offer _you_ a drink."

"You've had a few surprises. I'm just taking care of you," he said defensively.

_Oh, and, where were you _before_ you came back here to hide?_ she thought unkindly. Making a face, she looked down at her food.

"The Xero Faction is real," Michael stated. _Crash!_ Tifa looked over to Cloud. He had dropped the glass he had been filling with juice and he was staring at the young boy with a mixture of fear and shock. Tifa cleared her throat and picked up her fork.

"Michael, you shouldn't repeat things you might overhear..."

"They're real," he insisted, turning his dull blue-gray eyes to her. "And they're here. They're coming for him."

Cloud gave a slight whimper. Tifa stood and slammed her hands down on the table. "Michael! That's enough, young man!" Abruptly, Michael also stood and dropped his fork, his distant gaze skipping briefly over the two adults in the room.

"She's being used," he muttered, and left the room. Tifa watched him go incredulously. Kali began to wail after him. The older woman turned her gaze back to Cloud, who still stood frozen by the countertop. Making an exasperated noise in her throat, Tifa abandoned her dinner and came around to the cabinets, crouching and pulling open one of the small doors beneath the sink. She grabbed a rag and shut the cabinet, snatching up the garbage pail and crawling over to the red glassy mess on the floor. She began scooping up the larger pieces of glass and dumping them in the pail beside her. Cloud still hadn't moved. She worked around his feet, licking her lips and struggling to keep her temper from flaring. She had never been this upset before. The smaller pieces of glass were proving harder to pick up and finally she gave up trying with a frustrated grunt. This noise seemed to snap Cloud out of his panic attack.

"Tifa...?" he asked timidly.

"Can you put the baby to bed, Cloud?" she said without looking up. He hesitated, then she watched his feet cross over to the highchair and she heard Kali hiccuping angrily as Cloud lifted her and left the kitchen. She threw the rag into the puddle of juice and started scrubbing, all the while listening to Cloud's heavy footfalls reach the top of the stairs, turn left to enter her room, and stop at the crib. The baby screeched and she immediately heard him shushing her. Eventually, the cries subsided again. Tifa stood and wrung out the pink-stained cloth in the sink, dampening it with a gush of water from the tap before she knelt once more. "OW!" she yelped and pulled up. Her knee had found a stay piece of glass. Sucking her teeth, she pried it out of her skin with two fingers and tossed it into the garbage beside her. She examined the wound closely: for a small cut, it was bleeding profusely. Droplets of dark red plunked down into the juice and glass bits, mixing in the mess at her feet. She made a face at the floor and caught her upset expression in the reflection of the puddle. The blood swirled into its center and clouded and Tifa suddenly felt like she couldn't look away. She watched as another drop of blood rolled off her knee and landed on a stray piece of glass she had overlooked. Suddenly, in her mind's eye, she saw the exact same thing, except enlarged to fill her vision--jagged teeth of glass lay strewn across the floor, dark blood coating some of the pieces. Then, her eyes widened as the picture changed and her reflection became Gabriel's, his own eyes wide and unseeing. She yelped and leapt to her feet, the rag falling into the puddle and knocking her out of the hypnotic vision. Clutching her chest, Tifa leaned against the counter and sucked in a sharp breath, blinking and looking around the room as if she had never seen it before. Cloud entered and gave her a curious look.

"Tifa, are you alright...?" he called.

"Michael..." she gasped, a hand coming to press against her racing heart. "He said..."

"What about what he said?" Cloud stiffened. She shook her head and started forward, passing him and striding for the front door.

"I... I have to go."

"Go where? Where are you going?"

"I have to see it..."

"See what? Tifa, you're scaring me."

"_They're coming for him'_."

He shuddered: "I think I know what he was talking about--"

"No," she pulled open the door. "Watch them, Cloud." She stepped outside. "And don't let anyone into the house. Not even me." She slammed the door behind her.

"Tifa!" Cloud yelled after her but she started to run. Tifa scurried up the path to her front porch and paused briefly on the main street, her eyes darting around. Only a handful of people had lit their lamps, Gramp's Inn and the General Store among them. She ran to the latter and pushed open the door. Cozy, fire-lit walls greeted her and the daughter of the owner smiled at her from behind the front desk.

"Hi, Tifa. How can I help you?" she chimed.

"Did someone come in here asking for me?" the other woman asked in a rush, her chest heaving. The younger shook her head, her eyes studying Tifa in concern.

"No, not here..." Tifa ran out before she could hear the rest. She took three running steps and knocked loudly on the General Store's wooden door. They would be closed by sunset, but this was important. On her third knock, the owner himself answered the door, looking slightly ruffled.

"Tifa," he blinked in surprise, intentional rudeness forgotten. "What's the matter?"

"Sir, did someone come here earlier today, looking for me? Very early."

"Come to think of it..." he said, lifting his eyes to the sky in recollection. "While I was opening shop this morning, I saw a pale woman limping by here. She looked dead tired if you ask me. She must have felt me looking at her or something because she turned and looked back and I remember shivering..."

"Did you talk to her?" Tifa asked eagerly.

"Well, I asked if she needed anything," he continued, "and she said something that I couldn't understand. It sounded garbled and static-y, like she had lost her voice. I told her if she was looking for a place to stay, the inn was next door but she shook her head and kept on walking. She looked lost."

"Is that all?"

"Yeah. She moved on to the next building."

"Thanks."

Tifa rushed down the steps and started for the next building over when a sudden blazing fork of lightning came from the sky beyond the mountains and illuminated the ancient, run-down building at the edge of town. Feeling an unexplainable shiver, Tifa looked into the dirk-caked windows of the old Shin-Ra Mansion. Lightning again flickered hungrily across the sky and from within the building, for a split second, she thought she saw a pair of white, colorless eyes staring back at her. She straightened and made her way to the ancient gate, her shivers increasing in intensity as she drew closer. Over-grown grass and weeds covered the cracked path to the rotten steps of the mansion. In her childhood, they had assumed it had been haunted. Only half a year ago was that belief discredited, thanks to her friend Vincent. But looking at it now made the stories come true all over again. She felt like she was seven again, creeping up to the huge, dark double doors and reaching for the faded brass doorknob as her friends urged her on from the gate. She had been the only one brave enough to enter this place at night. And now, she pushed the door open, just like all those years ago, and stepped inside the cold damp dark that infested the abandoned two-story house. On rusted hinges, the door squeaked closed and shut behind her with a definite booming noise, making her jump nearly out of her skin. Tifa reached back for the door handle and couldn't find it, so she stood facing the darkness, trembling as much as when she was seven.

"H-Hello?" she whispered nervously. "Is...anyone in here? Hello...?"

The blackness swallowed her words and as much as she tried to pierce the darkness with her eyes, the void denied her. Slowly, carefully, she tip-toed forward, using her toes to feel out for any imperfections in the floor before she moved onward. She proceeded like this until her boot kicked something that thunked softly. A sinking feeling suddenly gripping the pit of her stomach, Tifa knelt and felt around her. Her hand hit something solid and she ran her fingers along the length of it, stopping as she felt something cold and wet on whatever it was she was touching. Lightning flashed, lighting up the interior of the mansion; she had mere seconds. Blinking, she looked down at whatever it was she was touching and let out a shreik that was drowned in the roar of thunder that followed the brilliant flicker.

_"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"_

Again she was plunged into darkness. Tifa lunged to her feet and bolted, stumbling over the stairs near the center of the main room and landing hard on the second story platform. Gasping for breath, choking in dust and stale air, she tried to get her feet beneath her but her boots skidded helplessly in the layer of dust on the wooden floorboards. Finally, she made a running tumble into the north wing of the mansion and turned into the right hand corridor. She hit the second doorway leading into the empty bedroom and clung to it, sobbing as she drew in shaky breaths. He was dead. Dead. _"They're coming for him."_ How could he have known? How could this be...?

"Oh, Gabe..." she wailed, clinging to the wooden frame. "Gabriel, I'm so sorry..."

Beyond the doorway, in the bedroom she was looking into, the secret passageway was illuminated from the eerie green light that came from deep within the bowels of the house. The door in the wall was ajar. Shaking, sniffling, wiping a hand across her burning eyes, Tifa left the body of eight year old Gabriel on the first floor of the mansion, and stepped forward, mechanically descending into the basement laboratory.


	5. Into the Mansion

_**Chapter 5**_

Cloud kept his blue mako eyes locked on the doors to the Shin-Ra Mansion. Tifa had gone in there, and he thought he had heard her scream, but there had been thunder so he wasn't sure. He was sure that she had been gone for nearly two hours now. He was getting uneasy; even moreso since the boy had mentioned the Xero Faction at dinner. Cloud knew they were out there, watching and waiting for an opportunity to catch him off guard. For some reason, they wanted him above all else, and he knew they wouldn't hesitate to do anything it took to draw him out of hiding. _It was a bad idea to come here. Tifa could be in danger now, because of me. _In fact, he wasn't sure why he had returned to Nibelheim, to Tifa. There were hundreds of other places to hide, a lot of them farther than this mountain town. But he had come here, and sought shelter with his childhood friend, not that she was pleased to see him. His brow furrowed. He thought he had left her on good terms. Of course, he hadn't kept in touch with her for about half a year now, but was that his fault? He was busy, looking for Aeris Gainsborough and the Promised Land. He gave a shudder--Aeris. What had that been, back there in the Northern Crater? Some sort of illusion? Was it actually possible that her spirit had transformed into a malicious ghost in the LIfestream? How, how in god's name, was she giving commands to this faction? How exactly were they taking their power from the Lifestream? It didn't add up.

And now, Tifa was missing...

"She'll die if you don't go."

Cloud turned to the voice. It belonged to the thirteen year old, MIchael. He had a strange feeling about this quiet blond. Almost everything he said was blunt and cryptic, and sometimes vague. It was hard to tell if he was crazy, or somehow he could know things others couldn't possibly know. And now, with what he had just said...

"If you don't face him, she'll die."

"Michael--"

_KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!_

They both looked at the door. Cloud angled his head and stared out from his position at the window. A man stood hunched over, almost as if he were cowering from the light of the porch lamp. Cloud reached for the doorknob but Michael withdrew as soon as he moved. Lifting an eyebrow, Cloud remembered Tifa's words: _"Don't let anyone inside. Not even me."_ She had obviously figured something out. Something that Michael already knew. He hesitated.

_KNOCK KNOCK!_

Cloud turned and knelt in front of the young boy: "Michael, what's going on? Tell me." The boy looked from the door to the blond and back again, his face calm but his eyes glassy with fear. Cloud knew that look. "If you're in trouble, or more importantly, if Tifa's in trouble, I need to know." His eyes flickered at the mention of his caretaker's name. "Please. It's okay to be scared, but don't worry, I can protect you."

"No one can protect me," he whispered. "I protect everyone. But no one listens, and they all die."

Cloud blinked and reached out, taking the boy's skinny wrists in his hands gently. "I'm listening."

_KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK! _Michael looked again from Cloud, to the door, to Cloud again, and back. Then he visibly gulped and shook his head.

"I don't want to go with that man," he said.

"Okay," Cloud nodded and stood. He turned to the door and reached up quickly, sliding the security chain into place. Then, he unlocked the bottom two locks and pulled open the door the crack that it was allowed. "Yes? How may I help you this time of night?"

"I'm here for my son," the man-figure said in a deep, slow voice. One sharp blue-green eye gleamed in the lightning that accompanied his words. "They said he would be here."

"Who said that, sir?" Cloud asked without missing a beat.

The figure pasued. Finally: "The villager I asked."

Cloud glanced back at Michael, and for some reason, he just suddenly thought what he was going to say instead of whispering it, like he had intended to do: _Make sure all the lights in the house are on._ The boy simply nodded, turned, and ran up the stairs.

"Was that my son?" the man shifted uncomfortably and Cloud noticed in the slight glint of light on the man's skin, that he was as white as a sheet. _Or a corpse._

"No, he's going to fetch him," he lied bluntly.

"...may I come in?" the man pressed.

"No, you may not," Cloud stated.

"I want to come in and get my son."

"No, I don't think so."

"Let me in."

"No."

The single blue-green eye flashed blood red and a white hand shot through the crack and lashed out at Cloud's neck. He jumped back, turning and rushing up the staircase. Behind him, he heard the man grunting as he pushed against the chain lock. He ducked briefly into the right-hand room at the top of the stairs and grabbed his sword from its position by the wardrobe. The Ultima Blade gleamed harshly as a bolt of lightning broke through the atmosphere. As the thunder followed, Cloud heard the snap of the lock breaking off the door and he fled into the other room where Michael was waiting with Kali nestled securely in his arms. Cloud's eyes darted around quickly and he spotted Tifa's ceramic lamp on her bedside table. _She can hate me later._ He grabbed it and flung it at the window as heavy footsteps thudded clumbsily up the stairs. They were temporarily drowned out by the loud shattering of the picture window. Cloud wrapped one arm around Michael's thin wasit and ran for the opening he had made.

"Hold on to her!" he commanded and he felt the boy tense against him. They vaulted into the night and a howl errupted from the second story bedroom as the _thing_ that had been right on their heels watched them escape. Cloud hit the ground and rolled, tucking the children's bodies into his own. He stood quickly as lights from the neighboring houses flickered on and the door of his old house opened up. He ran over to it. The woman on the steps nearly shreiked as he caught her arm with his free hand and turned her to face him. "Miss!"

"Get off me!" she raised a fist to fend him off but he let go of her arm and took Kali from Michael's grip. She stopped in mid-swing and stared down at the wide-eyed baby.

"Her name is Kali," he spoke in a rush, glancing over his shoulder as Michael whimpered and huddled closer to him. "I don't have time to explain, but please, take her and get back inside your house. Lock up everything, keep your lights on, and don't come out until morning." He forced the baby into her arms and Kali wailed after them as Cloud and Michael ran across the town square toward the Shin-Ra Mansion. Footsteps sounded behind them, and now Cloud didn't know how many of them were chasing him. Michael stumbled and the things that had been persuing them surrounded the two. Cloud pulled out his sword and nudged the small boy behind him, planting the blade in the dirt at his feet. The first attempt came from the right, but before it could close the distance between them, a tendril of fierce red flames shot from the Ultima Weapon and incinerated the attacker. Cloud closed his eyes and kept both hands on the handle of his sword, focusing hard on his spell and expanding its range so the circle of enemies had to retreat or end up like the first. The green materia orb pulsed in its slot as the spell worked. Slowly, Cloud lifted the blade and started forward, making the invisible ring of magic follow them up the rest of the way to the Shin-Ra building. Michael walked confidently beside the blond, one hand clutching the dark blue material of his shirt. Cloud kept moving, his eyes still closed, until they reached the looming double doors and he had to stop the spell. The attackers stayed a distance from the man and child as they both pulled open the mansion doors and came face to face with twelve more black figures. Cloud briefly gaped as Michael moved his blank stare over the number in front of them. The doors closed with finality behind them.

"Twelve," said the boy.

"Can you use materia?" Cloud asked hopefully. There was a negative shake of the head. "Right. Get behind me, then."

He planted the sword between them and the twelve figures in the main room. The same green materia from before gave off an eerie glow, washing the floor of the room in pale, sickly green light. They lunged at him. Michael suddenly fell to his knees. Cloud glanced back to check on him. One set of claws found him and Cloud winced before releasing a huge flare attack that sent the attacker flying back into the room. The others piled on him. Michael let out a slight, choking sob.

"Gabe..."

Bolt 3, Freeze, Quake 3, Typhoon, Flare, Ultima. They kept coming. Cloud used the Master Materia to cast a huge shield over the two of them. The invisible wall deflected their claws, but it was quick to wear, and to cast such a huge spell again in such a short time would surely waste him; Cloud was already getting light-headed. He had to stop soon, his magic power was depleating quickly--this was exactly as it had been in the Northern Crater. Somehow, he had gotten lucky and escaped. Not again, though.

Michael wailed. The sound reverberated against the dark, rotten walls and shook dust from the very foundations of the old building. A white light erupted from his kneeling figure and Cloud suddenly felt himself immersed in a gentle warmth, unlike anything he had ever experienced. The white light pulsated outward and struck the remaining enemies, knocking them back and rattling them to mere dust. And Cloud finally saw what Michael had seen: Gabriel's lifeless body sprawled at the base of the central staircase, covered in blood, his wide, blank eyes unseeing. The light slowly began to fade, and a backlash wave of such sorrow and pain struck him that his eyes actually prickled with tears. When all was silent and dark again, Cloud knelt before Michael once more and reached out with one hand, turning the boy's face up to his. Their blue eyes met in the darkness.

"Who are you?" Cloud asked.

Michael's shoulders sagged and he lowered his head, a single tear that glimmered like a star trickled down his face. "I couldn't save my parents either."

Cloud embraced him. "We'll save Tifa. You have my word."


	6. Past the Bookcase

_**Chapter 6**_

The spiral staircase wound down forever, it seemed. She didn't remember it being so long. Then again, she was lost in her own thoughts as her feet found each rotten wooden step by memory and brought her closer to what she hoped was the basement. She thought of Gabriel, poor, innocent Gabriel who lay on the ground above her. He hadn't deserved to die, and if she had heeded Michael's warning, the boy would still be alive. _"They're coming for him." _She should have asked Michael to clarify his warning; she should have understood it earlier.

Her feet suddenly hit the hard-packed dirt ground and she stumbled at the unexpected level change. Placing a hand against the cold, hard rock wall she steadied herself. Then she quickly yanked her hand back and rubbed it against her black skirt, trying to get the feeling of wet dampness off her palm. She hated this place. Gritting her teeth, Tifa moved forward slowly, her eyes darting back and forth as she stepped silently across the length of the basement tunnel. She passed the iron-studded wood door on her left that led to the room she and her friends had found Vincent Valentine. She briefly wondered where he and the others were.

At the end of the tunnel, the door to the secret research laboratory stood ajar, hanging off one of its rusted hinges. Tifa peered inside before stepping into the room. It felt different than it normally did--still creepy, but now, eerie-creepy. As if it held some new and dangerous secret. What, she had no idea. She stepped inside and looked to her right at the abandoned test tubes and large experiment table. It was dark and the layer of dust on it was undisturbed. She looked left, toward the endless piles and rows of books. Some of them lay open in the middle of the walkway, some had fallen from their propped position, and an entire shelf had actually rotted away and its books lay in a toppled line across the ground. She carefully stepped over and around the old texts, hesitating only to think that Sephiroth had once stayed in this basement for days reading every single book here. His presence, even after all these years, lingered here like a sickness. She pushed that from her mind and looked at the makeshift study contained in the rounded off area where the two lines of bookcases met. This area looked considderably cleaner. The dust wasn't as thick and it wasn't as dark as the rest of the basement. In fact...

Her eyes narrowed and she crouched to the ground, careful not to put her hands or knees on it (this place was still disgusting). At this eye level, Tifa could scan the floor faintly, and her sudden hunch proved correct--there were skidmarks in front of a particular bookcase behind the desk. She got up and crossed to it, her hands coming out and reluctantly touching the damp wood, searching. Her splayed fingers brushed across slime and dirt and a gap. She paused at the gap, the grossness of the situation temporarily forgotten as she worked her fingers into it and felt cold air brush their tips. Trying to get a better grip, Tifa braced herself and yanked hard on the case. It shuddered and a couple of books fell around her. Sighing in frustration, she pulled even harder, bracing one foot on one of the shelves of another case. Her fingers were slipping, and abruptly, the shelf snapped in two with the extra added weight. She yelped and lashed out with her free hand to grab something, anything to prevent her from hitting the ground. Her fingers hooked into a candelabra mounted on the bookcase and she yanked to a stop. With a heavy _click_ it slid downward a few inches and the case receeded into the wall then swung to one side, throwing Tifa into another tunnel. She rolled head over heels until she stopped at a rock ledge that hung over a crevace, and sat up slowly, shaking her head. She rubbed the side she landed on and winced, getting to her feet. Glancing back into the basement room, she moved back to the left side of the pathway, away from the ledge, and placed a hand on the cold rock wall. She hesitantly descended into the darkness ahead of her.

* * *

"When I escaped the Northern Crater," he said, strolling confidently through the darkness of the basement, "it was by pure accident. While I was running away from the faction, I fell into a crack in the rock and hit the Lifestream. I'm okay now," Cloud grinned down at the quiet boy. "It was about a year ago that I fell in for the first time, and I thought I was a goner. But Tifa stayed with me, encouraging me to keep hanging on, that I would be okay someday, even though she knew I had a damaging amount of Mako poisoning. She's amazing like that, you know. She makes you believe nothing is impossible when she's by your side..."

Michael looked up at his distant expression: "She loves you too."

"Huh?" Cloud blushed, then straightened. "Well, I..."

"What happened a year ago? You're not poisoned now," the boy tightened his grip on the other's hand.

"And here I thought you knew everything," Cloud laughed slightly. "Well, there was an attack on the town we were staying at, and the both of us fell into the Lifestream. We made it out, all thanks to her." He took a deep breath. "Since I've already been in the Lifestream twice, it didn't affect me at all when I fell in at the crater. So, I rode the stream to here, this basement. I never knew a place like this was so closely connected to the Lifestream, but there's a tunnel at the end of the way here and I think that's how the Xero Faction followed me here." He frowned. "I just wish I knew what the faction was and what it was after, exactly. I couldn't gather a lot from the bits I listened in on."

"They assume the shapes of the dead," Michael answered mechanically and Cloud stared at him in amazement. "They take their form directly from the Lifestream, which is how they could travel through it as you did. And that is how they absorb their powers as well."

"How do you know all this?" the older man stopped at the entrance to the laboratory. Michael kept going, pausing slightly in the center of the main room to look right, then left, and start down the passage of bookcases. Cloud followed.

"I've known a lot of things, ever since I can remember," he said softly, stopping in front of the secret bookcase entrance. "I get flashes, visions, and I try to warn people, but they never believe me..."

Cloud touched the young boy's shoulder: "And that light...?"

"That was the second time that's happened, " he shook his head. "The first was when I knew my parents were dead."

Cloud nodded and reached down. Michael took the offered hand, and the two of them started down the tunnel after Tifa.


	7. The Lifestream

**Author Note: **I'd like to stop briefly and thank all the readers that have left me reviews. It's your responses that keep me writing, guys! Oh, and a special thank you and shot out to Yunie Tidus, who's been with me since chapter one of _Unanswered Prayers._ I'm glad you like these stories, Yunie! Thanks for all the reviews!

* * *

_**Chapter 7**_

Tifa kept walking. She felt tired, but she knew she couldn't sit down and rest in this place. She had to find out what was being hidden all the way down here, then she had to go back home to Michael and Kali and protect them. Her heart ached as she thought of the child that she had recklessly given away; she hadn't checked for proof, background, nothing. And now, Gabriel was dead. It kept ringing in her head like a siren each time she thought it, and eventually, tears returned to her eyes. She hurriedly wiped them away and straightened, looking out at the trail stretched out before her. It wove in and out of the green glow from the Lifestream and reached far off into the unpierced darkness. She let out a sharp exhale of breath and slumped against the rock wall, closing her eyes. This was taking _forever._

A soft, whimpering sound came from around a bend in the path. She jumped and stepped carefully out, edging toward the ledge and peering around the turn. A child sat in the darkness, hunched over and rocking slightly back and forth on the balls of their feet. Tifa gasped softly and stepped out onto the next part of the path, tiptoeing silently to where the child was huddled.

"Hey..." she called softly. "It's okay, everything's fine. I can help you out of this place." They stopped rocking. "That's it," she extended a hand slowly. "That's right, it's okay. Turn around slowly and we can get out of here together, okay?" The child hesitated, then turned their face up to hers. His eyes were glassy and glimmered bright green in the darkness, making his entire face strikingly pale. Tifa let out a cry and withdrew her hand quickly.

"What's the matter, Tifa?" Gabriel spoke in a tiny voice. "You can't bear to touch me anymore? Ever since you killed me?"

Tifa backed away. "No! No, I didn't! I didn't know--!"

"Michael warned you, didn't he? He told you they were coming for me," the figure of the eight year old stood and followed her progression backwards.

"I didn't know what he was saying!" she cried, scurrying back even further. "It was your sister! She..." He drew even closer. Tifa sobbed and nearly fell back as her heels scraped the edge of the rock path hanging over the Lifestream.

"You killed me, Tifa," Gabriel said, advancing still. "And now, I'm going to kill you."

"Gabriel, stop!" she pleaded. "This isn't you! I know it isn't! Gabriel was kind and loving and would never think of hurting anyone!"

"You're right," he stopped in front of her, looking up at her with his haunting eyes. "I'm not the Gabriel you knew. That Gabriel was alive."

And he shoved her over the side.

Cloud Strife paused, tilting his head slightly as the echo of voices floated up to them from ahead. Michael's head snapped up and he yanked his hand from the older man's dashing ahead.

"W-Wait!" Cloud started into a run after him. A woman's shriek suddenly rang out through the darkness, making the Lifestream below tremble, and he gasped--that could have only come from one person. Rounding a corner, he saw Michael kneeling at the ledge, looking down at the green river below. There was an audible splash and Michael visibly winced. Cloud threw himself on his knees beside the boy and looked over the side, leaning as far out as he possibly could.

"Was that...?" he asked, knowing what the answer would be before he opened his mouth.

Michael nodded.

Cloud stood and quickly debated whether or not he should take Michael along any further. The boy had proven useful this far, and perhaps his strange powers could be used farther along the journey. But he couldn't just dive into the Lifestream with him, it would damage him. He wanted desperately to check on Tifa and try to get her out, but he knew she could take care of herself, while this boy couldn't control his powers to save his life. Cloud sighed in frustration and turned back to Michael, who was standing beside him and watching his face closely.

"I'm sorry," he finally said. Cloud shook his head and gently ruffled the younger boy's hair, giving a reassuring smile.

"We'll go to where she is," he assured. "If I traveled here from the Northern Crater, then that must be where she's headed."

"Can we get there in time?" Michael asked weakly.

"You can't see that in the future?" Cloud raised an eyebrow.

"I don't see anything. Just blackness."

Cloud bit his lip and took the boy's hand, leading him back the way they came. He didn't say it out loud, and he tried not to think it clearly, but, he had the feeling that the blackness Michael saw meant the boy would not live to see the future.

* * *

Tifa felt her lungs screaming for air. She had been holding her breath since she had hit the mako stream in the underground room, and her eyes were tightly squeezed shut. She didn't want it in her at all; the Lifestream would poison her like it had Cloud a year ago. She needed to get to the bottom of this before anything else. Why had she seen Gabriel? Why had he hated her? It couldn't have been her fault, could it...? She gagged and was quickly reminded that her body needed air. Tears slipped from beneath her closed eyelids and they were lost in the current of the green nothingness surrounding her. Her chest convulsed and she abruptly released her breath, trying to move her hands up to clasp over her mouth but she couldn't. Her eyes shot open as a stream of the mako filled her lungs and she cried harder. _That's it. I'm done for._ Then she exhaled. It was like a wave of fresh air that poured into her body. Her eyesight sharpened. She blinked and looked down at herself. She was suspended within the depths of the Lifestream, arms extended slightly, legs out behind her, her hair waving gently in the wake of the river's current. It was as if she were drifting along underwater, not in the blood of the planet. But for all that, she was frozen, all save for her eyes, which darted back and forth trying to examine everything around her. Orbs and streamers and tiny points of light all swirled and flitted past her, moving ahead in the stream, in the direction she was being carried. Where she was going to end up, Tifa had absolutely no idea. She wondered briefly why the Lifestream hadn't poisoned or killed her, and then she recalled the incident a year ago. She had actually fallen into the Lifestream _with_ Cloud, and they had come out alive, together. Her eyes widened--_that's_ why she could understand what that imposter woman was saying while the owner of the General Store couldn't! She had been in the Lifestream, she could understand its sounds and shrieks, so what sounded like garbled static to others sounded like words to her! Which meant that the things that were hunting Cloud and had taken Gabriel were things that came from the LIfestream. Meaning, dead things. Dead people. And that's what the Xero Faction was; nothing but spirits reanimated with the power of the Lifestream. But who, in their right minds, would meddle with the Lifestream like this?

Her thoughts suddenly turned to the story Cloud had told her the night he arrived. Last night (only?). Aeris Gainsborough, her best friend, was commanding an army of evil spirits. It didn't make sense at all, like Gabriel's ghost attacking her didn't make sense. They were malicious ghosts, with a taste for revenge. This was entirely planned by whoever was behind all this. She just had to discover who it was and free Aeris and Gabriel.

Tifa closed her eyes. Where was Cloud now? Did he know what kind of trouble she was in? Was he coming to save her? She lowered her eyes--hoping and knowing were two totally different things. She could _hope_ all she wanted that Cloud was on his way to rescue her, but she didn't _know,_ and that made her sad. She should have told him what she knew, what she had seen. She should have gone back for him, and now, what a fine mess she had gotten herself into.

_Tifa..._

She blinked. That voice...

_Tifa..._

Her eyes darted around for the source. She should have placed it by now...

_My sweet little Tifa..._

Tears suddenly welled up in her eyes again: _Mama?_

_Oh, Tifa. I'm so glad you're alright._

_Mama! Mama, is that really you?_

_It is. I'm glad you can still remember my voice._

_What's going on here, mama? Why can't I see you?_

_I'm just a memory, an imprint. I'm in the Lifestream, just like you are. Except you still have your physical body._

_How are we talking?_

_Now that you are in the stream too, we are connected. I am speaking into you, as you are into me._

_Is Papa here too?_ She suddenly got excited.

_I'm right here, baby._

Tifa didn't think she could have been any happier than she was at that moment: _Papa...?_

_You've grown up so much, Tifa, _the male voice pushed into her thoughts.

_I thought I'd never see you guys ever again..._

_We're glad we found you again, Tifa, _her mother spoke up.

And as if to make everything right in the world, she heard the voice of her old master.

_Tifa! My most prized and wonderful student!_

_M-Master Zangan!_

_You've blossomed into a beautiful young lady. I bet you that spikey-headed boy is positively bewitched by you._

_Cloud..._ Tifa blinked.

_We're so happy you're back with us, _her mother's voice cooed. But now, she felt uneasy.

_Mama, Papa, Master Zangan, it's wonderful to hear you all again, but... But I have to get back to Cloud. He doesn't know what's going on..._

_What is going on, dear? _her mother asked. _You can't tell us about it?_

_I..._ and TIfa suddenly found that she couldn't remember what she needed to talk to Cloud about. She could barely remember why she was here... where was she?

_Stay with us, Tifa, _her father pleaded. _There's nothing left for you back there._

Back where? _But, I really think I have to go do something important..._

Zangan's voice came again: _You're here now, Tifa. With the people you care about._

_The people I care about..._ An image of a tall, handsome blond with piercing blue eyes flashed across her vision. She couldn't recall his name, but she had the feeling she knew him. Intimately. _I...I have to go back..._

_Stay, Tifa..._ And now hands were touching her arms and legs, pulling her deeper into the Lifestream. _Stay with us..._

Her eyes closed and she gave in, letting them pull her farther into the depths of the planet.


	8. Aeris' Explanation

_**Chapter 8**_

_NO! _a small, desperate voice broke her trance. _Tifa, you have to fight them! You have to go back! You can't die here!_

_Die...? _her eyes slowly opened. A sudden darkness sprawled across her vision, and in its depths, she saw three vague, wispy figures, all beconing to her. The voice came again, this time as if from above her.

_Fight, Tifa! You have to fight! You have to come back!_

_Who...are you...?_

_Tifa, fight it! Come back! COME BACK!_

An invisible hand grabbed her own. The shadows beneath her wailed angrily and lashed out with their own invisible claws, grabbing her legs and pulling her back down. She was being dragged toward the blackness--a deep, eerie darkness that looked like a mouth that could swallow her whole. She suddenly didn't want to go there, for more than one reason. That blond man kept coming back to haunt her vision. For some reason, she wanted to see him in person, and knew she would if she just lived past this.

_That's it, Tifa! Come back. Cloud and Michael are waiting for you._

She kicked the groping arms away and let the other presence lift her back into the gentle light green current of the Lifestream. They released her when they were a safe distance up and the blackness had disappeared from view. Vaguely, a shape of a person descended in front of her eyes, and she gasped in recognition as all her memories came flooding back to her.

_Gabriel!_

_I'm glad I could help you one last time, Tifa,_ he smiled faintly at her, his image already fading in the swirl of the ever-moving stream.

_But...I'm so sorry, Gabe,_ she lowered her eyes. _I'm sorry I didn't take better care of you. I'm sorry I let you die._

_It wasn't your fault, Tifa,_ he was almost completely gone now. _I thought it was my sister too, and then, she put me under a spell, and..._ The last thing she saw was his smile. _Thank you, Tifa. Thank you for being my mother, my sister, and my friend. Tell Michael too. I love you, Tifa..._

She felt the tears sliding down her cheeks again and she managed to smile at the empty stream.

_Oh, Gabe. Thank you...and I'm so sorry...

* * *

_

Michael stared apprehensively at the golden bird as it munched on the chocobo treat Cloud had fed it. The blond turned to the little boy and lifted an eyebrow.

"What? You've never ridden a chocobo before?" he asked him. Michael shook his head and Cloud took the reigns, guiding Aurelia over to the hesitant child. "Chocobos are just big birds," he shrugged. "They don't eat humans or anything, just greens. They're gentle and they run really fast and really far. This particular chocobo can even run on water."

"Run on water?" Michael blinked. Aurelia _warked _and gently nipped at Michael's dirty blond hair. He laughed and touched her gold feathers timidly.

"She likes you," Cloud grinned and lifted himself up onto the animal's back. He held out a hand and Michael reached up after petting the large bird on the head. Cloud pulled him up easily and settled the boy in front of him, reaching around his shoulders and taking the reigns with both hands. "With Aurelia," he explained, "we'll make excellent time to the crater. We may even get there before Tifa, which is good. It gives us a chance to find the stream it connects to."

"I can't hear Tifa's heartbeat," Michael said in response and Cloud bit his lip slightly.

"She's just too far into the planet, that's all," he spoke aloud to assure the boy and himself. "We'll see her again on the other side."

"I hope you're not being cryptic about that," Michael said and Cloud laughed, snapping the reigns. Aurelia _warked_ again and sped off toward the large shadow of the Northern Crater.

* * *

Tifa kept floating. She didn't know how long she had been in the Lifestream, and she didn't know when she would be able to leave it. Her eyes had been semi-closed since the close encounter and the last talk with Gabriel. She had been thinking about a lot of things, almost all of them about this situation with the Xero Faction. And Aeris. What was she going to do about Aeris? She hoped, with a little bit of sarcasm, that Aeris' spirit would make a cameo appearance so she could find out what the hell was going on. And right on cue, came Aeris' voice in her head.

_All you had to do was ask._

_Aeris! _Tifa choked on the green mako liquid.

_Hi, Tifa._

_Aeris, what the hell is going _on_ here?_

_It's a long story,_ her voice sounded beyond dejected. Tifa lost the sudden flare of animosity she had felt for the other woman since Cloud had told her what had happened in the crater.

_It's not you commanding the troops, is it? Please, tell me it's not..._ Tifa pleaded.

_It is, and it is not, _Aeris' voice sighed in her head. _The voice that commands the Xero Faction is indeed my own, but it is only my essence, not me myself that does it._

_I don't understand,_ Tifa blinked.

_Someone with knowledge of the Lifestream's secrets has found out how to revive souls that belong to the planet, _she explained. _It is an ancient magic that was discarded long ago because it turned the spirits into malicious ghosts. So, when a person of the Cetra revived the spirit, it turned on them and others it had once loved. Because of their memories, they target the people close to them._

_So this spell basically turns love into hate._

_That's the theory._

_And, someone used it on you?_

_And many others. It's an entire army of hate-filled ghosts. They will soon be unleashed upon the planet and everything living will soon be destroyed._

_Who would want something like that? _Tifa gasped.

_Can you think of no one? _Aeris said softly. _Can't you think of anyone that hates you and Cloud so much, that they use me to command the army? That they sent the ghosts of your children's family to take them and turn them against you._

Tifa had an idea, but... _I thought we..._

_He is alive, Tifa, _Aeris confirmed. _When Cloud defeated him in the Lifestream, Sephiroth got his wish and assimilated with the planet's power. Using his newfound knowlede, he extracted this spell to take revenge on you and Cloud, and even myself, even though I am already dead._

_And when everyone has died? When everyone's spirit is here?_

_He'll rule them with the ultimate power he has obtained from the Lifestream._

_What about the Promised Land? _Tifa suddenly remembered. _Did he find it?_

_Only I know where the Promised Land is, _the other woman assured. _But if my spirit is destroyed by Sephiroth, that knowledge will be lost and then returned to the planet, where he will obtain it at last._

_So, his main goal is still the Promised Land!_

_I have an idea, Tifa, _Aeris spoke up hesitantly. _But, I'm afraid to suggest it..._

_I'll do it, Aeris! I'll help you! I'll do anything to stop Sephiroth again!_

_...Tifa, it requires that your soul is removed from your body._

_And you'll take my soul's place, am I right? _Tifa guessed. _Since you're in a body, Sephiroth won't be able to track you._

_Yes, but, if he senses you in the Lifestream instead, he'll know what we've done._

_So, I just can't be here._

_But spirits can survive long outside the planet's Lifestream, not even my own._

_So, how much time would I have outside of the Lifestream then?_

_I can't guarantee it, but, approximately twelve hours._

_So, we have twelve hours after this to find out a way to defeat Sephiroth again, for good._

_I understand if you don't want to--_

_I'll do it._

_Tifa..._

Tifa suddenly grinned: _I can protect you. I couldn't do that before, but now I can, and I will. And while you're in my body, I'll find Cloud and tell him the situation. He'll help when he finds out the truth._

_Tifa... Thank you._

_Just tell me what to do, Aeris._

_Take my hand..._

And there was a hand there, reaching out to her. Tifa squeezed her eyes shut and used every ounce of strength she possessed to lift her fingers to the other woman's. She slowly felt her arm rising reluctantly and she pushed it even harder, letting her fingertips brush against the ghost ones. Her entire body suddenly felt like it was waking up; the pins and needles feeling gushed out from the center of her chest to all points on the body and she tried squirming fruitlessly. Her skin began to burn and she opened her mouth to wail in pain, but suddenly it felt as if she were being pulled in two separate directions. Her eyes snapped open and she looked up at her own face, pale and a sickly green color in the Lifestream. She saw her own eyes open, saw they were green instead of the amber she had always had. And the green-eyed Tifa winked at her. Then the eyes closed and the body let itself be pulled off in the current of the stream (because now, suddenly, Tifa could move and resist the movement of the river with ease). A voice floated back to her, but this time, it fell on her ears instead of forcing its way into her head.

_Good luck, Tifa! I won't let Sephiroth touch your body as long as it is in my care, I promise!_

Tifa looked down at her hands, which she lifted up to eye level slowly. She could see right through them. She blinked and looked down at her own transparent figure.

_I wish Cloud could see me now, _she thought, and then she was rushing up, out of the Lifestream, through the rock ground, through the layer of dirt and grass and suddenly she was up in the fields, overlooking the Northern Ocean. She knew that because the Nibel Mountain Range was at her back, and the forests and snowfields that lay to the north were evident in the early afternoon sunshine. She saw a speck of gold rushing into the water and _above _it, causing a small wake behind it as it shot for the Northern Continent and the crater. She hesitantly tried to move forward, and she realized that all she had to do was think of a direction and she was going. She followed after the golden blur, arching downward so she was level with the ground and the ocean. As she closed the distance between them, she realized the golden streak was a chocobo, and two people were riding it--a man and a boy. Both were blond; the man with shocking spikes and the boy with trimmed, dirty blond locks. Cloud and Michael! Now if only she could get their attention...


	9. Communication

_**Chapter 9**_

Aurelia slowed, her brightly colored, clawed feet scuffing hesitantly in the dirt. Michael shivered within the circle of Cloud's arms and the older man glanced down at him.

"Cold?" he asked.

The boy shook his head, wrapping his thin arms tighter around himself. "Death," he mumbled.

"Yeah, that's really all there is up here," Cloud agreed and tugged on the reigns, bringing Aurelia to a halt. He hopped off and turned to help Michael down from the large bird's back, then lay a hand gently on its beak. "We'll be back soon. I hope," he added under his breath as an afterthought. The gold chocobo _warked_ and gave his fingers an affectionate nip. He and Michael stepped away from her and to the edge of the crater's mouth, looking down into the black abyss. After a moment:

"Are you going first?" Michael asked weakly.

"Unless you want to go in before me," Cloud glanced sideways at him.

"No, no that's okay, really. You go."

"Why? I'm sure there's nothing down there."

"Then you won't have any problems going first."

"Alright, alright, I'll go first."

No one moved. After another moment:

"Go on! I'll follow you," Michael gestured.

"On second thought, maybe we should go in together," Cloud grinned nervously. From beside them, the spirit of Tifa Lockheart rolled her eyes and slapped a hand to her forehead; were these two _serious_? Sighing, she dropped over the lip of the crater and slowly descended into the darkness, her eyes moving about to try and spot any danger. Nothing. Touching down on the crater bottom—she had to admit, this spirit-thing was kind of cool—Tifa looked up at the speck of light that was the entrance and called up to the two she knew were still up there.

'_It's okay, it's safe! There's nothing down here!'_ And then she remembered that she was a ghost and they couldn't hear her. She slapped her forehead again: _So much for being the intelligent one in all of this._ Above, at the top of the crater, Michael suddenly tensed and leaned out farther, his eyes squinting as if he were looking for something in the blackness.

"Did you…hear that?" he asked Cloud. The blond shook his head. Michael made a face and stepped onto the edge of the crater. "See you at the bottom."

And he jumped.

"ARE YOU CRAZY!" Cloud dove forward to catch him but missed. Cursing, he launched himself into the hole after the boy, using the walls to ricochet downward as the other fell freely. Michael kept his eyes closed; feeling the air whistling around him and knowing the ground was getting closer way too fast for his enjoyment. Cloud angled his jump and grabbed for the boy again but again he missed and he landed on one of the remaining ledges instead, watching in horror as the boy kept on falling. But finally, there it was—arms encircled him and pulled him to a stop mere feet before impact. He hovered for a second or two then was placed gently on his feet and the arms released him. The voice he had thought he'd heard came into his head again.

'_Mikey, that was reckless! You could have gotten seriously hurt!'_

"Michael…?" Cloud dropped to the ground and stood up quickly, rushing over. Michael stared at him as he approached, his eyes full of tears.

"Tifa…!" he gasped.

"Where?" Cloud put his hands on the boy's shoulders.

'_Mikey… Michael, calm down and give me a chance to explain...' _Tifa said softly.

"She… She's here!"

"In the crater? She got here before us?"

'_Michael, listen to me! I'm perfectly alright, I'm not dead…'_

"Dead!" he wailed.

"Dead," Cloud repeated blankly. "Tifa's…?"

Tifa grabbed Michael's shoulders and shook him briefly before the hysteria settled in: _'I'm not dead!'_

"I'm not dead!" came Michael's voice. Tifa blinked. Michael touched his lips with his fingers and looked around the crater floor.

"Michael, what's going on?" Cloud lifted an eyebrow slowly. Tifa got an idea, and she came around behind Michael, placing her hands on his shoulders and closing her eyes, concentrating hard.

'_Cloud, it's me—Tifa! But I am _not_ dead!'_

"Cloud, it's me—Tifa!" She heard her words coming from the child's mouth and breathed a small sigh. "But I am _not_ dead!"

"Tifa…?" Cloud blinked and looked around the empty crater as Michael had.

'_I met the real Aeris in the Lifestream…'_

"I met the real Aeris in the Lifestream and she explained everything. Cloud, Sephiroth's alive. He returned using the power of the Cetra that was locked away in the planet and created the Xero Faction with that same power. Only the spell he used on them turn spirits into vengeance-filled ghosts who obey his every command; he's using the spirit of an Ancient—Aeris—to command them. He has her under his control.

"Her spirit is in my body right now, which is why my spirit is here. She's hiding her whereabouts from Sephiroth so he can't eliminate her and obtain the knowledge the planet receives from her spirit: the location of the Promised Land!"

Tifa gasped and let go of Michael, falling to her knees. The boy stumbled and plopped down onto the floor, laying back and taking in huge breaths. Cloud frowned, his eyes still casting themselves around the room.

"Tifa's spirit is here with us right now." An affirmative nod from Michael. "Then… Sephiroth…" His face darkened. "I killed him once and I'll do it again; as many times as it takes!" Tifa breathed a sigh and closed her eyes: _Wow, that took a lot out of me. I have to rest for a minute…

* * *

_

Cloud glanced back at the half-dozing boy and dropped silently down into the mako waterfall room. From his position, Cloud could see the revived spirits of the Xero Faction lined up in rows, facing the sliver of yellow light emitting from the entrance to the crater's innermost chamber. He had to get in there undetected; he didn't have enough magic power to take on everyone in this room, the next one, _and _Sephiroth in one shot—that was suicide… Well, this whole ordeal was like that from the start, but, he had to do this now more than ever. Not for the world, not for the dead, and not even to defeat Sephiroth again. He had to save Tifa. The blond started forward slowly, creeping along on the balls of his feet, silent, and his eyes keeping to the faction's backs, watching them, trying to think of a way to distract them from his presence…

* * *

Michael sat up when he realized Cloud was gone and he was by himself. "Cloud?" he called tentatively. His voice echoed up along the crater walls but no response came back. "Tifa…?" he whispered after a pause.

'_I'm here, Michael.'_

"Tifa, everything you said was the truth, right?"

'_Of course.'_

"And Sephiroth is the bad guy you and Cloud defeated together?"

'_Yes.'_

"And he's the one that turned my father into a monster."

'_I'm sorry.'_

Michael stood and brushed the dirt from his clothes. "Do you know where he is?" he asked the ghost of his caretaker. Tifa recalled the story Cloud had told her the night he had returned to Nibelheim. She looked around and spotted the crack in the ground from his earlier excursion.

'_To your left is a gap in the rock. It leads to another part of the crater; Cloud went down there.'_

Michael crouched beside the rift and peered inside. "It's bright in there," he mumbled and began to work his way into the hole. Tifa phased through the rock floor and came out in the chamber below, grinning as she saw Michael's skinny legs kicking frantically back and forth as he tried to squeeze through and not fall. She pulled him out gently and set him on the ground, turning to face the room and letting out a gasp as she saw the flood of faction ghosts. The noise alerted the ones closest to them, and Michael let out a tiny squeak, scrambling toward the sealed entrance in the wall. Tifa backed up to him, her eyes darting quickly as she counted the number beginning to surround them. One lunged to attack them.

'_I hope I can still hit ghosts!' _she winced, then cried out as the attacker disappeared in a wisp of vapors. _'I neutralize them!'_ It made sense—she was a live, uncorrupted spirit still attached to a human body. So technically, a ghost who retained their human abilities. Thank god. With renewed confidence, Tifa began sweeping the ranks, twirling, kicking, somersaulting, punching. Michael could only see his attackers lunge and then disappear in a swirl of mist. There was a half-circle around him, being upheld by his spirit companion.

He stared in awe as more and more ghosts fell to seemingly nothing at all. "Tifa…!"

* * *

By now, the disturbance in the back had called all their attention, and every last ghost in the chamber was swarming toward the lone little boy who seemingly had some sort of forcefield around him. Cloud chuckled to himself (_she is one _hell_ of a forcefield_) and watched one of the spirits overcrowding the land bridge fall into the mako river below. He got an idea. The green Master Magic materia glowed in the slot on the Ultima Weapon and the calm waterfall suddenly exploded over the extension connecting his platform to the other. He heard the howls and grinned as he slipped into the final room, casting one glance back at Michael and the less-than-half ranks that were disappearing quickly. The mako rush receded and he was gone, and the faction members were getting confused. Tifa laughed as she continued to assert the circle of protection between Michael and the ghosts. 


End file.
